1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to multilayer ceramic electronic components, and, in particular, to improved mechanical strength of a multilayer ceramic electronic component including a ceramic laminate made of ceramic materials, such as ferrite materials, substantially entirely made of a polycrystalline phase.
2. Description of the Related Art
Multilayer ceramic electronic components having composite multilayer structures made of magnetic materials (e.g., ferrite materials) and formed by co-firing are described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 7-201566 and 2005-183890.
More specifically, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-201566 describes a multilayer ceramic electronic component in which low-permeability magnetic layers are stacked on upper and lower surfaces of a high-permeability magnetic layer having a coil disposed therein to prevent electrical interference between the coil and the surface conductive patterns.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-183890 describes a multilayer ceramic electronic component in which insulating layers are stacked on upper and lower surfaces of a magnetic layer having a coil disposed therein to increase the degree of flexibility in the arrangement of surface-mounted circuit components.
However, in the multilayer ceramic electronic component described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-201566, it is difficult to obtain sufficient mechanical strength because the ferrite material is fundamentally brittle.
In the multilayer ceramic electronic component described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-183890, sufficient mechanical strength can be obtained, depending on the type of an insulating material defining the insulating layers. However, delamination, cracking, and warpage often occur because of the difference in shrinkage behavior between the magnetic layer and the insulating layers.